Disciplines
The traditional system of Degrees doesn't really work well with Creators because the basic power to Create can be used in a potentially infinite number of ways. Degrees are about drawing closer to a specific aspect of God, but being Creator means being more open to aspects of God, not less so (otherwise you can't create them). To counter this, a secondary system of power rating has been provided for called the Disciplines (or Disciplines of Science for those of you too hopelessly melodramatic) as a game option. The level of knowledge a Creator has in certain fields suggests what he is actually capable of. The standard formula for judging what a Creator can do with his power is what Disciplines he has learned and his rating in them. To perform a specific feat usually means combining two or three Disciplines together (for complex feats, simple feats shouldn't need more than a single Discipline). The Disciplines I'm not going to bother explaining these Disciplines since anyone who has Internet access can quickly Bing search them if need be. Also, by not explaining and going into detail, it helps to keep this page more manageable. ADMINISTRATION ALCHEMY (BASIC ELEMENTS)** ASTRONOMY ANTHROPOLOGY / HISTORY AVIATION ARCHITECTURE BLESSINGS* BIOLOGY BOTANY BUSINESS / LOGISTICS CARTOGRAPHY CHEMISTRY** CURSES* COMPUTER SCIENCE ECOLOGY ECONOMICS EDUCATION ELECTRONICS ENERGY ENGINEERING ETHICS / METAPHYSICS* GEOLOGY GRAPHIC ARTS HEALTH / NUTRITION LAW* LITERATURE / LANGUAGES LOGIC / RHETORIC MATHEMATICAL MEDICAL ARTS METEOROLOGY MILITARY SCIENCES / STRATEGY OCEANOGRAPHY PARANORMAL* PHILOSOPHY* PHYSICS POLITICAL SCIENCES PSYCHOLOGY RANDOMNESS+ SOCIOLOGY THANATOLOGY THEOLOGY ZOOLOGY *These Disciplines are what a Creator will probably us to work "magic" in the sense of using Kenosis to perform supernatural feats. He won't actually be using magick, he'll be using Kenosis, but any feats he attempts that are supernatural will involve these Disciplines. For more information on Blessings and Curses, see the Order of Saints for more info. **Alchemy and Chemistry are very similar and much of their content will overlap, but for the purpose of gaming Alchemy tends to the basic elements in a more supernatural fashion (fireballs, things like that) while Chemistry deals with more material issues like creating new substances or chemicals for various purposes. +Randomness represents a Creator's ability to reach into Divine Randomness and produce something involuntarily of a random nature. The Creator doesn't really decide what to do or create but instead opens himself up to the glory of infinity and lets something pass through him. This Discipline is what a Creator would use in Divine Randomness act or in attempting to control a Backlash he might have. Rating: The Rating level is a general assistant guide to players and storytellers alike to help them decide what a Creator can and cannot do. Below is a basic, standard list of Ratings and what they mean in game terms for player's Creators. 1 = Creator can perform only the most basic of feats related to this subject field. 2 = Creator can perform or create some major things associated with this chosen field. 3 = Creator is adequate in most circumstances involving this subject field. 4 = Creator is an aspiring novice in this chosen field. 5 = Creator can be considered average in this particular field and things under its purview. 6 = Creator is slightly above average. 7 = Creator is definitely above average. 8 = Creator is considered a trained professional in this particular field. 9 = Creator is rarely flummoxed by anything related to this field, they are quite knowledgeable on all aspects of this field and can create anything related to it 10 = Creator is a leading figure of this field and may eventually take it to new heights. How Disciplines Work: A player announces his Creator wants to perform X, where X is an act of creating something be it an object or an effect. The storyteller would, much of the time, simply look at the Creator's Disciplines and their Ratings to decide if the Creator is capable of it or how high to set the difficulty (generally the higher the Ratings the lower the difficulty). If the action or decisions of the Creator's player or the storyteller are challenged by anyone during the game, the Ratings can quickly serve to decide the dispute. The storyteller gives the payer a number of 10 sided dice (the number of dice equal to how Disciplines the Creator has that he can apply to the effort of Creating). The storyteller averages out the average Rating of all Disciplines the player chooses to use, then subtracts that number number from an initial difficulty of 10. For instance let's say a Creator has 3 Disciplines he can use to do something. The storyteller adds up the total Rating points of all 3 Disciplines and divides them by 3 to get the average number. Let's say the average number is 4. 10 - 4 = 6. Ergo, the difficulty is 6. The Creator's player takes 3 dice (10 sided) and rolls them. If any dice equal or exceeds 6, the number of point above 6 are tallied. Let's say the player rolled 3 dice and got a 4, 7, and 8. Only the 7 and 8 exceeded the 6. 7-6=1 and 8-6=2. Therefore, since 1+2=3, the end result of the roll is 3. Success Rate: When it comes to Creating, it's not really a pass or fail kind of things. Creators almost always manage to create something... it's usually a question of how accurate and useful the thing they end up creating really is. Below is quick-glance chart to gauge how successful an act of Creating is using the Disciplines. To really understand it, you should go back and read the preceding section. 1 = Minimal Success = Creator managed to create something simple and basic, albeit brittle. 2 = Getting There = Creator made something decently useful. 3 = Average Success = Creator made something genuinely beneficial. 4 = Above Average = Creator made something that helped during a scene. 5 = Creator produced an item or effect that altered a scene. 6 = Creator's power altered the game with a single act, producing something of true worth. 7 = Creator exceeded expectations and greatly empowered himself and allies. 8 = Creator practically won the scene single-handedly. 9 = Creator crushed all opposition. Deciding on Which Success Rate To Set So you understand how the game mechanics to Disciplines are laid out here. Now all you need is the last and final piece of this jigsaw puzzle: which Success Rating do you set as final, that is, as the one the Creator needs to meet to succeed? 'As a general rule of thumb, the minimum Success Rate needed to succeed during a single feat of Creating in a situation should be the number of Disciplines the Creator got to use in the first place. ' Let's go back to the earlier example of the Creator who used 3 Disciplines against a Difficulty of 6 and got a total of 3 Successes. He used 3 Disciplines, which means to succeed at what he's doing he should have at least 3 total successes. Any less and he fails. If he goes over, the storyteller should reward with incremental power or success according to the nature of the act and the situation. In this instance the Creator only barely scraped by. If he had a final 4 successes than he would have achieved his goal effortlessly. If the Creator had achieved a final Success Rating of, say, 8, he probably would have succeeded instantly and his creation would be powerful and accurate to the design specs in the Creator's mind. How To Involve Disciplines In A Game: There really is no single way to involve Disciplines in a game. If it's a short game, you can simply run Disciplines in place of Degrees. If you expect a long game, you can run them together, every time you would rise in Degrees you can add a certain amount of points to your Ratings to reflect character leveling from experience. If you do decide to run the two together, the recommended 'points' to be allotted to Ratings every time your Adepts moves up a Degree is the level number of the new Degree. So if your Creator moves from the 5th Degree to the 6th Degree, you would have 6 points to allocate as you see fit among Disciplines. To start a new Discipline is easy, just add a minimum of 1 point to it. What Exactly Can A Creator Do: Anything. An Infinite Creator is capable of anything. Obviously Creator Adepts are not infinite, and the Degree/Disciplines are meant to reflect that. Below is a short list of general objectives players would want or need to achieve during a game. -Damage An Opponent = Creator can produce an energy based attack, such as Electronics (electricity) + Energy (generate basic element). He could also use Alchemy to instead hit his opponent with flame or water or wind attack. -Hack a Computer = Electronics + Computer Science + Logic would be a good combo. -Build a Robot = Engineering + Electronics + Mathematical should do the job. -Stop a Demon from Breaking Into Our World = Blessing (or Curse) + Theology (exorcism) + Ethics (to reflect his willpower). -Turn Something To Stone = This is a simple feat, probably requiring just Alchemy. Unless the target is resisting the storyteller shouldn't need to make a check against it, he would only look at the Creator's Alchemy Rating and compare it to the Success Chart. -Break Down A Powerful Barrier = Physics (antimatter) + Engineering + Energy would be a good start. -A foe with teleporting abilities is attempting to attack a Creator. To defend himself, the Creator wants to cocoon himself in a sphere of electro-static energy. If the foe attempts to come near the Creator, the energy field will zap him instantly. Energy + Physics should cover it. -Creator and his allies are taking heavy fire and need cover. The Creator wants to warp the ground underneath him to bulge upward, providing a sudden wall of transmuted matter behind which they can find refuge. Physics + Chemistry. -The Creator is standing before a government committee and needs to convince them to cut funding for the IAS. He'll need Law + Languages + Rhetoric (or Political Science) to create a truly Stirling speech that moves the committee panel to cut funding. -To create a combat-Golem a Creator would need Military Sciences + Biology + Engineering. -To rewire a device, a Creator could use Electronics + Computer Science. -Need a spaceship? Astronomy + Aviation + Engineering. -Cleanse a haunted house, a Creator would use Theology + Paranormal + Blessing to create a supernatural effect that drives the spirits from the home. -A Creator's Golem is damaged and needs repair: Medicine + Biology + Power. -A Creator wants to create an attack Golem that can hide in a museum at night to lie in wait for a particular target. History + Biology + Engineering (or Graphic Arts too). -Creator wants to create a lion Golem: Biology + Zoology + Engineering. -Creator needs to build a powerful trap for a gigantic monster: Engineering + Chemistry + Architecture. -Creator is in a melee struggle with a foe and wants to spit venom into his face: Chemistry + Botany to produce a naturally-occurring venom in his mouth to spit with. Final Notes: -If the Creator is up against NPC's, Bad Guys or other players, a storyteller could make it a Contested Action and the Creator would have to roll for Creating several times (another words, do the same check a couple of times over) to see if he keeps succeeding enough to win. Normally as long as a Creator gets at least 75% of such actions correct, he would win. -Particularly powerful or intricate specific powers a player seeks to do might require practice and study on the part of the Creator in game time. Storyteller discretion. -If a player makes their Adept spend game-time studying and developing a new power, not only should they allow it in game, but the storyteller might consider lowering the difficulty when using said power. Category:Creator